


you need only ask

by quietuniverse



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 5+1, A dash of spice, Eddie Diaz is on the verge of losing his mind, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Getting saucy in the food court, M/M, Mutual pining idiots that don't know they're mutually pining, They have but one shared brain cell, faking it but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25140652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietuniverse/pseuds/quietuniverse
Summary: If you had asked Eddie when and where he suspected that all of his carefully practiced self control over his feelings for his best friend would eventually begin to unravel, the cereal aisle of his local grocery store would have most definitely been his last guess.But with Evan Buckley, anything was possible.Or, five times Buck asked Eddie to fake it, and the one time he didn’t have to.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 642





	you need only ask

If you had asked Eddie when and where he suspected that all of his carefully practiced self control over his feelings for his best friend would eventually begin to unravel, the cereal aisle of his local grocery store would have most definitely been his last guess.  
  
But with Evan Buckley, anything was possible.

“Eddie...this is going to seem weird, but just go with it.”

The bag of chips in Eddie’s hands crunches in protest as Buck quickly envelopes him in a tight hug. They stand there like that for a moment, and when Eddie realizes that Buck isn’t planning on letting go anytime soon, he nudges the crushed snacks out from between them and awkwardly wraps his arms around the taller man in return. It wasn’t like this was their first hug, but he just wasn’t sure how Buck had gone from trying to decide what cereal Christopher would be the most excited over to suddenly harbouring a dire need for a bone-crushing embrace in aisle 7.  
  
“Uh...Buck?” Eddie murmurs against Buck’s neck.  
  
Another beat of silence passes before Buck finally pats Eddie on the back and pulls away, looking slightly embarrassed. He brings a hand up to rub the back of his neck as he gives Eddie a lopsided smile. “Sorry, ah, I had a date last week that really flopped and she just walked by us. Didn’t want to have to make small talk with her.”  
  
Fighting to temper his stomach’s unpleasant response to that particular tidbit of previously unknown information, Eddie instead schools his face into a playful expression as he quirks a brow and says, “A date, huh?”  
  
Buck shrugs, looking borderline uncomfortable and cheeks turning slightly red. “You don’t want to hear about it, trust me.”  
  
“You’d be surprised,” Eddie mumbles as Buck clears his throat and begins to steer the shopping cart toward the produce area. 

Eddie looks down at the ruined bag of chips that he’s still holding and mutters some choice words in Spanish as he trudges after Buck. 

* * *

They’re out for drinks at the bar a week after the definitely-not-weird-grocery-store-hug when Eddie realizes that the tiny thread of his sanity that had been nudged out of place in the breakfast aisle was just the goddamn beginning.

“Eddie, I need you to kiss me.”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“Now.”  
  
Incredibly confused, slightly apprehensive, and momentarily questioning whether or not he’s dreaming, Eddie balks at his best friend. He’s quick to pick up on the urgency of Buck’s tone and the desperation in his eyes, though, and proceeds to lean in before he can change his mind. He brushes their lips together briefly, unsure of what to do with his mouth and not entirely sure if he can trust himself to play along politely. This isn’t how he imagined their first kiss, after all. The scenario in his mind involved a lot more heat, and a gratuitous amount of tongue and wandering hands.  
  
When he thinks that an appropriate amount of time has passed to classify this as a kiss, he begins to pull back, but he notices that he’s being held in place by Buck’s hand, which has snaked its way around the nape of his neck.

Catching the hint that he obviously hasn’t fulfilled Buck’s request yet, Eddie inwardly screams and prays he doesn’t spontaneously combust as he tilts his head slightly and gently slides his lips against Buck’s again. _He’s fucked, honestly._ Buck’s fingers brush through the soft, short hairs on the back of his neck as he sucks Eddie’s bottom lip into his mouth, and it takes all of Eddie’s willpower to hold back the shiver that’s threatening to course through his body. Eddie is two seconds from literally losing his mind when suddenly Buck jerks backward as if he’s been electrified, breathing hard.  
  
Eddie slowly brings a hand up to his lips and stares at Buck, wide-eyed and dazed, as he blurts out, “Uh?”  
  
Buck looks like he’s struggling to string a coherent group of words together as he grimaces, “Um, very terrible ex hook up at two o’clock. Had to make it look...convincing?”  
  
Eddie nods as he shoots a careful glance over at a girl who’s giving him a particularly menacing death glare. He doesn’t trust the words that are on the tip of his tongue, so he lets out a simple, “Oh,” instead.  
  
Buck scratches his head sheepishly, taking Eddie’s response as an uncomfortable reaction to the kiss. “Sorry for dropping that on you without warning, man.”  
  
Shrugging, Eddie manages to recover some of his wits as he smoothly replies, “I’m prettier than her, anyway. I don’t blame you.”  
  
They both laugh, and whatever awkwardness was fizzling in the air soon dissipates as they go and grab another round of beers. 

* * *

Eddie begins to wonder if any place is safe for his sanity anymore when it happens again in a mall food court, of all places. They’d shown up for a call that ended up being a false alarm and Buck had somehow convinced Bobby to let them detour for milkshakes on the way out before heading back to the station.  
  
The two of them are leaning against a wall beside the shake place, waiting for their order, when Buck’s eyes go wide and he reaches his hand out in front of Eddie and grabs on to his forearm to drag him over so that they’re standing face to face. Eddie nearly rolls his eyes as he says exasperatedly, “Again?”  
  
Buck gives him a pleading look, “Remember when I told you I got catfished? One of the girls is right over there and you know that whole saying about a woman scorned—”  
  
Eddie doesn’t have the patience to let Buck finish his sentence, so he groans and roughly grabs him by the collar of his shirt—eliciting a brief yelp from the other man—and smashes their lips together. It’s far less tame than their first fake-kiss and he really doesn’t care, because if Buck wants a performance then he’s getting the first class package with all the damn bells and whistles. He also doesn’t really think about the fact that the rest of the team is most definitely still standing somewhere nearby as he cages Buck against the wall and drags the taller man’s bottom lip between his teeth.  
  
“Uhhh….Buckley? Two chocolate shakes for Buckley?”  
  
Just as quickly as it started, it’s over. Eddie hastily pulls away and drops a neutral expression onto his face while he turns to grab the drinks. Buck, meanwhile, slumps down slightly as he tries to catch his breath. Eddie, seemingly unbothered, places the cup in Buck’s hand and nudges him off the wall, guiding him toward where he’s spotted Hen, Chimney, and Bobby waiting for them.  
  
Hen looks back and forth between the two of them, tilting her head, as she says, “Sooo…”  
  
Eddie shrugs nonchalantly, “It’s not a thing.”  
  
Buck, still looking slightly dazed, chimes in, “I was trying to avoid talking to one of those really angry chicks that got catfished by ‘me’ a while back.”  
  
Chimney doesn’t sound convinced as he replies, “So...you guys kissed.”  
  
“It worked, didn’t it?” Buck shrugs.  
  
And if Eddie is the last in to load up in the firetruck because he has to lean against the side of it to let loose a very shaky breath, and then proceeds to spend the ride back to the station furiously sipping on his milkshake in a half-assed attempt to negate the tightness in his pants and the heat coursing through his stomach, well...nobody else needs to know about that.

* * *

Eddie really should have put an invisible red ‘X’ over the entrance to the bar after the last time, but he just didn’t imagine he could somehow end up any more fucked than he already was if he and Buck were joined by a full entourage (see also: chaperones) consisting of Hen, Karen, Chimney, and Maddie. Yet, once again, he managed to seriously underestimate both his willpower and the force of nature that was Evan Buckley. And self-preservation just really wasn't his strong suit. 

The evening begins innocently enough, although a few drinks in Buck starts to lean more of his weight onto Eddie from where he’s seated beside him in the booth, which then becomes borderline cuddly as Eddie begins to relax into it. _It’s fine, this is fine._ Eddie repeats the mantra in his head, because Buck is always a little extra touchy when he’s drunk, it’s nothing new. Sure, he now knows what Buck’s mouth tastes like and how soft and pliant his lips are, but it’s not like he’s about to climb into Buck’s lap when their friends are sitting right across the table from them. _Right?_  
  
It becomes very not fucking fine when Buck decides to join Eddie in his venture to grab another round for the table. It’s not that Eddie didn’t appreciate the extra hands, it’s just where they could inevitably end up that was the problem.  
  
And so they’re sitting side by side on barstools, idly chatting because the bartender is swamped, when Eddie finally ascends to his final form as a top tier dumbass idiot masochist. The words are tumbling out of his mouth like a runaway train before he can stop himself. “Buck, uh. We—I’ve...got a code red.”  
  
Buck doesn’t miss a beat as he quickly spins around in his seat so he’s facing Eddie, slotting one of his thighs between Eddie’s spread legs. He wiggles his eyebrows and suggestively drawls, “Edmundo, what kind of trouble have **you** gotten yourself into?”  
  
Covering his face with his hands, partially in an attempt to hide his reaction to the feeling of Buck’s knee brushing casually against his inner thigh, Eddie mutters, “It’s not like that.”  
  
Still smiling, Buck leans closer and gently guides Eddie’s hands down from his face to rest on his thighs, pointedly leaving his own on top of them. “Okay, okay. So what’s the issue?”  
  
The older man sighs, “It’s one of Christopher’s teachers. She just walked in. I may or may not have given her the wrong idea when I met her at parent teacher night...and now every time I’m at the school for something she just won’t take a hint.”  
  
A mischievous look begins to crawl across Buck’s face as he turns to look in the direction that Eddie’s glancing in, taking in the figure of an attractive woman that’s headed their way, walking with purpose. Before Eddie can say anything else, Buck launches himself forward into his lap. Eddie’s hands latch onto Buck’s hips in surprise as he straddles him, and he chokes out, “Jesus fucking Christ, Buck.”  
  
Buck chuckles darkly as he leans in and mutters into Eddie’s ear, “Go with it, _hermoso_.”  
  
Any and all words helplessly die in Eddie’s throat. Since when did Buck know a _single_ goddamn word in Spanish? And where the fuck was he supposed to draw the line now that his best friend had called him handsome while sitting in his lap, idly stroking his chest? Eddie’s private party-of-one meltdown is interrupted as an involuntary, filthy moan works its way out of his throat when Buck, who had taken it upon himself to begin kissing his way across Eddie’s jawline, bites down on the sensitive area beneath his earlobe.  
  
He swears he hears Buck murmur something under his breath when a feminine voice interrupts them, “Eddie?”  
  
The other man swiftly slides back onto his own stool, leaving Eddie looking positively wrecked, hair sticking up wildly where Buck had carded his hands through it. Eddie turns to look at the woman standing in front of them, and he clears his throat as he responds, “Ms. Flores, hi. Nice to...see you here?”  
  
She quirks an eyebrow as she corrects him, “Ana, Eddie. You can call me Ana.”  
  
Eddie nods dumbly, “Right.”

One hand resting on Eddie’s upper thigh, Buck sticks out his free one as he cuts in, “Hi Ana, I’m Buck. Eddie’s boyfriend.”  
  
Eddie tries to school his face into a neutral expression as his brain begins to short circuit. Ana, meanwhile, responds with what Eddie suspects is forced enthusiasm, “Ah yes, so **you’re** Buck. I’ve heard so much about you from Christopher, I just didn’t think…”  
  
Buck smiles at her sweetly, and Eddie swears he feels the man tighten his grip on his thigh as he tilts his head and says, “You didn’t think…”  
  
Eddie coughs, lacing his fingers with Buck’s and squeezing as he cuts in, “You’re fine. It’s uh...this is...new.” He points back and forth between the two of them, feeling just as dumb as the gesture looks.  
  
The conversation fizzles out shortly after, and Eddie lets out an audible sigh of relief once Ana excuses herself to go find the people she had been there to meet in the first place. He goes to run a hand through his hair, and realizes their fingers are still interlaced. Blinking a few times, he meets Buck’s gaze; there’s an unreadable expression resting on his face. He says, “Uh. Hm. So I guess this time I’m supposed to thank **you**?”  
  
Buck stifles a laugh as he pulls his hand back to finally flag down the bartender. “Don’t worry about it, Eddie. Anything for you. Was that...ah...too much though? Sorry, I may have gotten a little carried away there. It’s been a while.”  
  
Eddie bites his lip to hold back the incriminating things he desperately wants to say, taking a long drink from the beer bottle now sitting in front of him instead. He briefly relishes in the taste of the alcohol making its way down his throat before responding, “Totally fine, Buck. Totally fine.”

* * *

Eddie’s sheer willpower to refrain from pinning Buck up against the ladder truck and fucking him senseless in the days that follow becomes somewhat of an Olympic achievement. His irritability is through the goddamn roof, because every shift with Buck now requires him to come prepared with a cavalcade of boring, mundane, and very not-horny thoughts to keep his wandering mind full of less-than-PG daytime fantasies at bay. He’s now become hyper-aware of Buck’s complete disregard for any personal space when it comes to their friendship, which used to be endearing but has now thrown him into an exhausting daily challenge of “how the fuck am I going to hide this boner?”  
  
The final straw crumbles to dust when Eddie’s least expecting it. 

The 118 is at a car dealership, and Buck and Eddie have just finished wrenching two customers free from a test drive gone wrong. Both of them are virtually fine, just a few scratches, but Hen and Chimney are still being thorough in looking them over for any additional injuries. Bobby’s busy reaming out the dealership manager asking how in the world three parked cars on the lot could have possibly been left in neutral, while Eddie and Buck lean against the back of the firetruck and try to stifle their laughter.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie sees a mechanic striding over from the dealership’s body shop. He doesn’t envy the day that this guy is going to have now, cleaning up that mess. For whatever reason though, instead of heading toward the damaged vehicles, the man’s face lights up and he begins to stride over toward Eddie and Buck instead. Buck’s face falls as he groans, “Oh, fuck.”  
  
 _Again?_ Eddie is loath to admit how eagerly he slips his hand into Buck’s, which is nervously wiggling against his hip while the taller man waits for him to play along, as per usual. Eddie joins their hands together, and before he can stop himself, he brings Buck’s up to his face and places a soft kiss at the juncture between his pointer finger and thumb. He can’t even be bothered to care at this point, because Buck climbed him like a damn tree the other night. _Surely this is fairly tame in comparison._  
  
Buck looks over at him like he wants to say something, a peculiar look swirling in his eyes, but the moment is interrupted as the other man comes to a stop in front of them and grins as he says, “Buck?”  
  
He thought he’d be used to this by now, the aching stab of jealousy that he doesn’t even have a right to be feeling. Eddie stiffens as he and the stranger both take one another in. He knows Buck isn’t straight, he’s just less vocal about his male conquests, but it feels unsettling to have one of them standing in front of him and appraising him. It’s a stark reminder that Buck is undoubtedly on board to date guys, too, but that guy just isn’t Eddie. Eyes raking over the man’s curly hair and tattooed arms, Eddie is five seconds from flinging himself off a cliff with a self-deprecating joke about not being Buck’s type. 

“Adrian! What’re the odds?” Buck exclaims. The man, Adrian, leans in with one arm out and Buck misjudges the half-hug for a handshake, and one of his hands is still entangled in Eddie’s, so the entire exchange is fifty shades of awkward bumping shoulders.  
  
Adrian puts a few paces between them and shoves his hands in his pockets, a small smile on his face, as he looks back and forth between Buck and Eddie and then asks how Buck has been. Buck does that adorable little head tilt with a half grin, the one that drives Eddie absolutely fucking insane, as he says, “Ah, you know. Just fighting fires, saving little old ladies, spending time with this guy,” he points his thumb at Eddie as he continues, “This is Eddie, by the way!”  
  
A knowing glance that Eddie doesn’t quite understand begins to take shape on Adrian’s face as his face lights up, “Oh! Wow. Okay. So **this** is Eddie. Yeah...I get it now.”  
  
Eddie looks from Buck to Adrian, shifting uncomfortably as he tries and fails to understand what the fuck is going on.  
  
Buck chuckles nervously, “...yes. Yes it is.”

Adrian nods, sticking his hand out to shake Eddie’s hand. He says, “I’m happy for you, Buck. Nice to see you, and nice to meet you, Eddie. I’ve better get over there before the boss loses his mind. Seeya around!”  
  
Chancing a glance over at the rest of the team to make sure they’re still occupied, Eddie crosses his arms and turns to face Buck. “What was that?”

Buck rocks back and forth on his heels as he gazes off into the distance, pointedly avoiding making eye contact with him. “Adrian? I went on a few dates with him a little while back. Didn’t really go anywhere, was a bit awkward at the end.”  
  
No patience left to dance around vague answers when his brain is busy trying to put out the dumpster fire currently wreaking havoc on what’s left of his surviving rational brain cells, Eddie steps back into Buck’s personal space and grabs his wrist. Looking into his best friend’s eyes imploringly, he says softly, “Evan.”  
  
Buck bites his bottom lip, thinking for a moment, before he sighs. “It’s you, Eddie. It’s always you. It’s always been you.”  
  
Blood rushing in his ears, Eddie sways backward slightly as the meaning of Buck’s words hits him like a semi truck. “What?”  
  
“Grocery store girl? We met up for our date at the bar and I somehow ended up very drunk and crying about you. Angry ex hookup? Accidentally said your name during sex. Adrian? I somehow ended up spending **all** of our dates talking about you and Christopher and—”  
  
The rest of Buck’s sentence goes unsaid, as Eddie surges forward, capturing the taller man’s lips with his own. He knows they don’t have long before the team reconvenes, so he makes the best of it, kissing Buck hungrily to show him _exactly_ how he feels about the information that he’s just shared with him. Buck wastes no time in trailing his hands down Eddie’s side until they’re gripping his hips, tugging him closer. When they finally pull their lips apart, they rest their foreheads against one another, breathing hard. Eddie laughs weakly, “ **That** one wasn’t for show.”

There’s a twinkle in Buck’s eyes as the corners of his lips lift once more. “The rest weren’t either. Not really, anyway.”

* * *

The ride back to the station is excruciating. Buck keeps giving Eddie suggestive looks and private smiles from where he’s sitting across from him when nobody else is looking, and Eddie teasingly kicks his foot up and rests it on the edge of the seat between Buck’s spread legs.  
  
Their shift is over when they finally pull back in, and if Chim and Hen find it suspicious that both men get changed and pack up to leave at record speeds, well, they don’t say anything. Though Eddie swears he sees Chim slip Hen a $20 bill as they’re briskly exiting the locker room.  
  
“See you soon,” Buck whispers into Eddie’s ear as he squeezes his shoulder and walks past him to get into his Jeep. Eddie grins, shaking his head, because he didn’t even need to tell Buck to meet him at his house. The other man knew that Carla wouldn’t be bringing Christopher home from school for another couple of hours, and they had business to attend to.

Eddie’s front door is barely shut behind them when Buck shoves Eddie up against the nearest wall, their duffel bags dropping to the floor with a thud. Eddie shivers as Buck trails messy, open-mouthed kisses along his neck and lets his hands tease under the hem of Eddie’s t-shirt. He slides his hands into the back pockets of Buck’s jeans, squeezing and pulling the other man closer. Buck chooses this moment to bite down on his collar bone and suck, and a moan escapes Eddie’s throat. Buck pulls back slightly, looking Eddie in the eyes and breathing heavily. “Eddie...if we keep going, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself. And I can’t have this be a one time thing with you.”  
  
Eddie’s voice breaks as he laughs, dropping his head against Buck’s shoulder, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this. If we’re doing this, you’re stuck with me for the long haul. I’m yours, cariño.” Lifting his head back up, he smiles as he watches realization dawn upon the other man’s face. He continues, “And Evan? _Eres mío_ ,” he kisses him gently on the lips, “You’re mine.”

* * *

When the click of the front door signifies Carla and Christopher’s arrival, Buck practically falls out of Eddie’s bed as he scrambles to put a shirt on. Eddie, laughing, follows suit, though with slightly less urgency. Buck looks at him, panicked, as he says, “Do you want me to hide in your closet? Wait a bit to come out so it looks like I was in the bathroom?”  
  
Eddie doesn’t bother holding back the laughter that’s bubbling up inside of him. “Do you really think that this is in any way surprising to any person currently in this household?”  
  
Buck considers Eddie’s question for a moment before responding, “Well...I guess not. But I don’t want to upset Christopher.”  
  
Eddie purses his lips, “I really don’t think Christopher is going to have a problem if the man who he asks me on a daily basis if he can also call Dad comes walking out of my bedroom.”  
  
“He what now?” Buck looks slightly dazed.  
  
Scratching the back of his head, cheeks taking on a slightly red hue, Eddie shrugs as he says, “The kid has been rooting for us for years now. We just took a bit longer to catch up.”  
  
Still recovering from the fact that Christopher has already accepted him into the family just like that, Buck is rendered speechless, and he covers his mouth as a huge smile makes its way across his face. Eddie quickly crosses the room to close the gap between them, taking Buck’s hands in his and interweaving their fingers together. Gently kissing the corner of his mouth, he speaks softly against Buck’s lips, “You’re a part of this family, Buck. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
  
Buck turns his head slightly to kiss Eddie full on, and although it’s not scorching hot and needy like all of the times that their lips met earlier, the warmth that spreads through Eddie’s chest and down to his toes leaves him breathless all the same. He will never get tired of this.  
  
And shortly after, when Christopher is happily settled on the couch picking out a movie for them to watch later, Carla leans against the kitchen counter, giving Eddie a satisfied, knowing look. Eddie glances over at Buck—who’s next to him but has his attention and the soft smile on his face focused on Christopher—and he feels an unbridled joy begin to blossom inside of him as the reality of everything hits him. He takes one of Buck’s hands in his and doesn’t let go, because now he doesn’t have to.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are so very appreciated. Thank you for reading!


End file.
